Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates generally to a ticketing gaming system and, more particularly, to a gaming system that encompasses printing and validation of tickets with ticket validation numbers pre-loaded by a central computer system to individual gaming machines.
Gaming machines, particularly slot machines, have in recent years become one of the more popular, exciting, and sophisticated wagering activities available at casinos and other gambling locations. At the same time, slot machines have also become a source of greater revenue for gaming establishments.
Typically, a player, when finished playing, xe2x80x9ccashes outxe2x80x9d at the slot machine by activating a cashout button. At that time, the slot machine converts the amount of credits pending in the slot machine to a currency payout that is dispensed (e.g., as coins) to the player. The player must then collect all of the coins, fill a cup or pockets, then move to the next slot machine and reenter all of the coins. Thus, the prior payout techniques tended to interrupt gameplay, thereby reducing profits and also reducing the excitement and entertainment experience that arise from uninterrupted game play.
In the past, slot machines have attempted to address the interruption caused when a player collects coins and moves to another slot machine. In particular, some slot machines have issued paper tickets that encode the amount of credit pending in the slot machine when the player presses the cashout button. The player may then simply pick up the ticket dispensed by the slot machine and proceed to a new slot machine without incurring the time delay and distraction associated with collecting currency and reinserting it into the new slot machine.
Successful ticketing, however, requires a comprehensive system level approach to ensure that the tickets are secure (e.g., they cannot be duplicated and reused, they cannot be forged, and the like), that as many slot machines as possible can accept tickets, and that ticketing does not cause as much interruption as the coin/currency payout that the tickets are designed to replace. However, in prior ticketing systems for example, the slot machines typically had to spend the time and processing resources to generate their own ticket validation numbers, or had to incur the delay of requesting a ticket validation number from a central authority each time the slot machine needed to print a ticket. As a result, prior slot machines exposed the player to unnecessary processing delay, thereby slowing play, and reducing the overall level of player enjoyment.
A need has long existed in the industry for a secure ticket actuated gaming system that addresses the problems noted above and other previously experienced.
A preferred embodiment of the invention provides a method for issuing validated tickets to a gaming machine player. The method includes pre-loading a ticket validation number from a central authority to a network interface board connected to a gaming machine, tracking pending credit in the gaming machine, and monitoring at the gaming machine for a cashout signal. In response to the cashout signal, the method proceeds by printing a ticket including pending credit indicia and pre-loaded ticket validation indicia obtained from the interface board. In general, when a ticket validation number is pre-loaded onto the network interface board, the ticket validation number is also pre-stored in a ticketing database (albeit without an associated pending credit amount). Thus, should the gaming network fail, validation may still occur through human intervention.
After the pre-loaded validation number is used, the method pre-loads a subsequent ticket validation number from the central authority into the network interface board in the gaming machine in preparation for printing a subsequent ticket. Thus, the gaming machine does not wait for validation numbers when a ticket is to be printed. Rather, the validation number is pre-loaded in the network interface board and is therefore immediately available. The pending credit indicia and the pre-loaded ticket validation number indicia may be a bar code, Arabic (or other human intelligible indicia), and the like.
Another preferred embodiment of the invention provides a gaming machine adapted to print validated tickets for a game player. The gaming machine includes a microprocessor for controlling game operation (e.g., slot machine operation), a cashout signal input, a network interface coupled to the microprocessor for communicating with a central authority, and a memory in the network interface that stores a pre-loaded ticket validation number received from the central authority. In addition, a ticket printer is coupled to the microprocessor for printing a ticket that includes pending credit indicia and pre-loaded ticket validation indicia in response to a cashout signal on the cashout signal input. After the ticket is printed, the gaming machine preferably sends record keeping information back to the central authority. In particular, the record keeping information may include a pending credit identifier and ticket identifier.
In another preferred embodiment, a gaming network includes a central authority, a central authority network interface coupled to the central authority and a network medium, and one or more gaming machines. Each gaming machine generally includes a game controller for controlling game operation and a cashout signal input and a game machine network interface coupled to the network medium and to the game controller. In addition, a ticket printer directly couples to the network interface for printing a ticket in response to the cashout signal and a ticket reader directly couples to the network interface for reading tickets. As a result, the central authority may exercise control over the ticket printer and ticket reader (and, optionally, a bill/coin validator) through the game machine network interface.